Liam Mulligan - Lucky

Googling yourself can be pretty amazing. I've found lots of credits I didnt know where on the net. Here's the next:
Liam Mulligan - Lucky.
An album of Irish songs. I mixed the record.

Link

Jim on IMDB

Hell yes ladies and gents. I am credited for my voice work on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on IMDB!

Link

The Door

I grew up about a mile from where I currently fume (and write from). Queensbury, NY. ( dont laugh, that joke is ancient).

When my parents built the house I spent 13 years in (pre-college), my father had a lot to do with the design and building of the house... including extensive and excellent hardwood-work throughout the house. Every window included wooden sills, molding and panes. Every doorway had moulding. Hardwood throughout the living and dining rooms... And solid pine doors in every indoor doorway.

So, from the start of everything, my father kept track of my sister's and my height and weight on the back of the master bedroom's bathroom door... 13 years of pencil, little lines and numbers on the back of a stained pine door. In the hustle and bustle of moving, we totally forgot the door...

So, this past November, I came up to visit my friend Adam and I got this crazy idea... perhaps I could drop by and see if the door is still there, if its intact... In fact, it was. Untouched since we moved. All the pencil markings were there, clear as day. So, I offered to replace the door. I ended up hiring Loews Home Improvement Store replace the door... unkowingly replacing it with a crappy hollow 6-panel door. This was unacceptable due to its inability to enable the mounting of certain hardware on the door.. so back to square one...

Meanwhile, I gave my parents the door for Christmas. They couldnt believe they were receiving the door from their old bathroom as a gift from their children. They were floored. It was an amazing experience giving it to them. (especially now that they can keep track of their grandson's growth along with his mom's and his uncle's.)

So, now, here, I find myself writing to get other thoughts off my mind... writing about the joy the door gave my family... (not sure how to top this one for next year tho...)
I'm in the process of staining and polyurethaning the new solid pine door to go into where the crappy hollow door is... its all ending... a 2.5 month project on the edge of its end. I found myself singing the last verse of 'my way'

"and now... the end is near... and we've reached the final curtain"

Its good to get it done with... Maybe I'll be able to stay away forever...

Spring Awakening

I cant wait to see this!

An up-to-date stream of consciousness...

This is a myspace message to a friend from college... he's crazy, and wrote a crazy long thing to me... so i felt like this would be an appropriate response... take with a grain of salt ;-)

***
micheal michael michael...
what you wrote had such a fantastick effect... It reminded me of you... :)

I think we're all in flux all the time... so the questions, anticipations, frustrations and analyzations are all very valid and totally scrumptious.

I think that the youngens of the world need you... the thought of you teaching feels very natural. the cognition of music as a graduate study, eh? I feel like if you can figure that out, there's probably a whole lot more to learn from it... you know? like how people conceive abstractions within their minds and why people like pork rines...
(and why people write uninentended rhymes)

Congrats on the lady (I'm a little jealous, but only because i cant seem to find me a man...and that man will never be you.)

my life:

its fine too... i never feel like anything special is going on... i dont know why, it could be because i'm constantly seeing 'special' happen at work, or on the street, or anywhere but close to home... but then again, i dont really know what special is because i never set forth any kind of expectation... so bad stuff doesnt disappoint so strongly, and great stuff is nice, but not surprising... I feel like if i keep the extremes within a close proxmity of perceivable possibility, i can handle anything that comes along without getting completely thrown off my (awesome vintage southern plantation style wicker) rocker. (or anything that starts with P)

1. goodness, what to write from here?
2. I'm currently sitting at my desk in the corporate head quaters of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. on the 36th floor of the McGraw Hill Building of Rockefeller Center at 49th St. and 6th Ave in the center of midtown Manhattan. I just finished a carrot raisin nutty diabetic coma of a muffin from the place with green straws... *sigh* i cant get away from them...
3. I'm typing on a cheap ass kensington keyboard because my company has yet to figure out that buying better stuff less often is less expensive in the long run...
4. I constantly think my phone is ringing... or vibrating...
5. [edited]
6. If they dont come around, I'm going to head off to grad school too... McGill for Sound and Recording Technology... their program is ridiculous. If I dont get in, I'm probably going to go watch tower crazy and shoot the shit out of everthing... (something has to happen, something big, something major, and something that no one could ever expect from me... dammit)
7. I'm a big homo... shit. I sure am. Although, while most would think that this is the place to be for that... people dont realize that regardless of the density, they're no different from anywhere else... painfully annoying, snotty, faminine, weak, and ultimately disgraceful... not realizing that anytime anyone realizes their minority, they paint a shitty picture for the rest of us... and are so unattractive! Within all this, I sing in a gay men's chorus... The Gay Gotham Chorus (dont worry, we're changing the name). Its ok... I'm on the board, so I see the ugly stuff. We sing decent music, and Jon Babcock conducts, so its enjoyable. I just auditioned for a different chorus as well, the C4 Ensemble... its SATB, and a collective for composers of choral music... so, i think it'll be cool if I get in.
8. I have more friends than I can handle. Its a great problem to have, but still a problem... friends from the chorus, friends from work, friends from high school, friends from college, friends through co-workers, friends through the fraternity, etc etc... So its a lot sometimes to keep them all happy... Its busy, and I love the sociability.. at the same time I keep thinking that instead of being social, I could be advancing my career in audio interning somewhere... but then I'd lose a lot of friends... so its tough.
9. My family is going strong... I'm an uncle now... Lucas Raymond Arsenault is his name, and totally the cutest thing :-) This is the kid that made everyone great, grand, or whatever... the first of the new generation. His dad is cool, he's really interested in recording and stuff, so we chat... My parents just moved from Charlotte, NC to Greensboro, SC for my dad's job (promotion! awesome!) so they're enjoying the prospects of settling into a new place... I'm going down there for Thanksgiving... looking forward to it.
10. I live in Harlem... west 137th St. I live among poor dominican people in a crappy apartment owned by a giant company (Extell) that doesnt give a shit about the building or anyone who lives in it... I feel like karma's gonna be a real bitch on those people... but alas, my roommate (Nora Camp, a good friend and former classmate at Hartt) and I have made it into something descent I guess... paint and whatever... its alright... and most important, its cheap (575 each per month).
11. I'm doing a lot with music... mixing a record for a friend... Its gonna be awesome when its done... its like, creative piano driven pop/rock. Really cool songs... so thats fun. I've also just started working with Joey Battaglia. He's a rap artist/lyricist so, I'm going to make a bunch of beats for him and we're going to compile an album. (the second of a series, one on each deadly sin) And, I'm always fooling around with loops and sounds and synthesis and stuff... thats the fun stuff for me... while my career is going to be more technical... my analytical ears pay my rent, not my creativity...
12. I'm faced with a little predicament... (and it seems relatively frequent in my life.) (I just took odd awareness of my feet... and its distracting... weird... kind of like thinking about how to tie your shoes and then not being able to because its been so engrossed in muscle memory that the action is subconscious)
Ok, so this predicament... I'm pretty much in love with a straight guy. He's been a close friend of mine for years and he loves me very much... and tells me so... and I keep feeling like their's something there... that he could feel for me what I feel for him... its damaging because he's 'straight' has a girlfriend and all that... but he's so a-typical from your average straight... very little interest in sports... listens to broadway pretty exclusively... i dunno... everyone around him assumes he's gay... *sigh* I dont know how to get over him... he consumes my thoughts...
... seriously... its ridiculous.
What are your thoughts on this idea?

I ramble on and on and on... :-) you love it.

love it, ok? I dont do this for everyone... its as close to stream of consciousness (sp) as I get. ;-)

My boss's wife had a child like, two weeks ago... and yet still has time to make a variety of heart shaped brownies to send with her husband to give his department... yummy... but seriously... someone should bake HER brownies... (notice the someone, not the me ;-)

I think I've been writing for about 40 minutes now... maybe less... but its a lot regardless.... and a long ass message... faster to read than type tho... so get through it! ;-)

My future goals, just to reiterate, and also enable some awareness... so if you hear of this exact situation somewhere you can say, "hey! I know a guy who'd be PERFECT for that!" haha
I want to run a mastering studio. I want to the be the guy that half the music industry goes to to make their records sound amazing... I also want to own a house in westchester and drive a hybrid car around... (I really really miss not having the freedom of a vehicle) so if all of this finds itself in a consise classified ad somewhere... let me know ;-)

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Tell me more about the lady... what does she do?
any funny stories from school?

thanks for the opp to type atcha... I havent done this in a long long time...
This... a lot of things... and this... makes me happy :)

Yours,
Jim

Iraq Series (Update from Derek)

He's coming home. He's fine, and I'm incredibly relieved.
***
well hello to all,

i just wanted to a take a minute to write a quick email to everyone. im in kuwait right now and should be home late on nov. 19! i cant wait to get home and just sleep in my own bed, use my own bathroom, and drink a beer! it has been a long year but it definately went by quick lookin at it. we did a lot of good over there, but i will save the stories until i get home. i want to thank everyone for their support, letters, packages, emails, and talks on IM. i cant wait to see everyone. not long now! and if youre in the DC area for new years or my birthday (dec 29), let me know, cause its definately gonna be a good time! ill see you all soon!

thanks again
derek

How may I connect your call?

This is the coolest thing ever. And who more appropriate to bring it to you than the fine folks at thinkgeek.com?

Imagine, you get a call, lift your BLUETOOTH RETRO HANDSET to your ear and start chatting away?!

If anyone wants to buy me one, feel free :-)

Orka Veer

Orka Veer: An Electronic Musician.

Artistry is often measured by ones creativity within a medium. As an artist matures, gains popularity and better financial means, their art is often able to expand to materials, sounds, and venues otherwise unavailable. For Orka Veer, this is not the case. He made an entire album (that exceeds the limits of an 80 minute CDR) with a basic computer, and couple extra pieces of equipment that dont exceed the cost of that one, simple computer. I've been friends with him on myspace for a while now, but in that time havent really listened until now. The aesthetic of the album is consistent, the artistry pure, and the accesibility (often an overlooked factor in electronic music) wide. Download the album. (its free!) Its a great work from an incredible artist.

Iraq Series (update from Derek)

This post is entirely dedicated to a long-awaited email from a former classmate from high school. He's been in Iraq for months now... right in the thick of it... When a month plus goes by without an email, I start thinking morbid things... but he's alive and well (thank God).
In my opinion, there's no better perspective than that of a service member actually on the front lines...

From Derek:
**

i know i konw, its been forever since i sent out my last mass email. ive been kinda slacking in that category. but to my defense, we have been pretty busy goin all over baghdad.

We just got back from a shooting range we were at for a couple of days. i know, youre probably asking why we would be going to a range while we are in combat? well, its not the Alamo out here, so we went to exercise weapon systems, qualify (proving that we can really shoot), and just get away from our sector for a while. its always good to get someplace else and just do something completely different. it was a good break. for those wondering, i did shoot 40/40 with my M4. not bad.

lets see... lately things have been going well. we've been bringin in a lotta leading terrorists in our area. everything from just being lucky and being at the right place at the right time to using some of hte most sophisticated technology has helped us bring guys in. its funny though, we're not really fighting the terrorism as one might think on a global level. its more like local gangs who've gotten ahold of weapons and bombs, and are attacking rival "gangs". however, these "gangs" are basically the Sunnis and Shiites. its pretty ridiculous. right now, the Shiites are the real s#!theads. but we are doin well.

on a sad note, we have lost 2 soldiers in the Squadron since i last wrote. one, Sgt David Weir, was shot and killed in an intense firefight while the other, Cpl Egardo Zayas was killed by a roadside bomb. both had a wife and kids and were excellent soldiers. so please say a prayer for their families.

on a happy note, i did get to go on leave in august. that was probably the happiest i had been here... when i was not here! hahaha! well, i went to Athens and Ios, Greece and Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona, Spain. If you want to go to an exotic party island and enjoy life, go to Ios... it was great! and of course, Spain was amazing as always. i went with a good friend from back home, Jackie and her psycho friend Lauren (who ended up leaving... ill tell the stories when i get home). But it was a great leave... spent too much money, drank not enough beer, and enjoyed every last second of it!

aight, well i gotta get this sent out. ill be back at Ft. Campbell on November 18. for those back in NY, i should be home around christmas time and them im going to DC for new years. still dotn konw where im gonna spend my birthday yet... but before all that, im going to Brazil with all my LT buddies! thats gonna be nuts and ill save it for another email.

thank you again for all your support! just remember, when i leave there will still be 143,000 Soldiers still here. they all appreciate your support more than you can know! Until next time...

Derek

pic 1: me in front of the Parthanon in Athens
pic 2: me and Dave Woody (VMI '03) found this big
weapons cache